"Absolutely. It should start," Mora said Thursday. "UCLA needs to promote him and I'm going to promote him, and he needs to go out and promote himself by going out and playing great and helping his team win."

The only Bruin to have taken home the Heisman is quarterback Gary Beban in 1967. More daunting is the trophy's bias towards offense.

Since Michigan's Charles Woodson became the only primarily defensive player to win in 1997, quarterbacks and running backs have won 14 trophies in a row.

Four months ago, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o finished runner-up in Heisman voting. If Barr breaks through this fall, it will be the culmination of an incredible two-year journey.

Last season was the senior's first at outside linebacker after being ill-used at F-back under former coach Rick Neuheisel. The result was astounding: 13.5 sacks, second in the nation; 21.5 tackles for loss, good for fourth and All-American and All-Pac-12 honors.

Even with teams now having a year's worth of film to look at, Mora expects Barr - whom he called a "neophyte" on defense - to surprise them.

Returning for his final year of college ball, the coach added, not only will help UCLA but also the defensive star's pro evaluations.

"When he goes into the NFL draft next year, he's less of an unknown commodity," Mora said. "They're going to see a guy who can come in and play immediately but they're also going to see a guy with a high ceiling.

"That is very appealing to NFL teams when they're drafting high. You want a guy that can come in and be an immediate impact player who has a huge upside and that's Anthony."

Right now, most projections have South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney - the top-ranked recruit in 2011 - to go first off the board.

Barr likely won't slip past the top 15 next April, but can he lay claim to the No. 1 spot?

"I know the Clowney kid, he's a darn good football player, but I'd put Anthony Barr up against any defensive player in the country," Mora said.

"There's nobody I'd trade him for. Nobody."

Mora unhappy

With the departure of all-time leading rusher Johnathan Franklin, UCLA's tailback competition is wide open. Mora has said all spring he expects the Bruins to use a committee, but that doesn't mean he's happy with how they've done so far.

"There's way too much dancing right now," Mora said. "Our running backs are doing too much of this, like the keyboard of a piano. They need to freakin' hit it and go.

"That's something I'm disappointed in and they're going to work hard on."

Jordon James, Paul Perkins and Malcolm Jones have all shared carries through camp.

Millweard shining

Brett Hundley is a lock to start at quarterback, but there's no clear-cut option behind him. On Thursday, redshirt freshman T.J. Millweard made his pitch for the spot by making a number of sharp throws during scrimmage situations.

His most impressive moment was a long touchdown pass to Tyler Scott uncorked from near midfield.

"We kind of saw that man one-on-one out there," Millweard said. "We had the perfect play call. I just kind of did a play fake, got back and let it rip."